EU gets serious about e-invoicing

In recent years, there has been an increasing cross-industry trend towards digitization of traditional paper-based invoicing. For state governments, this means more control over VAT collection, and for businesses it is a way to make their accounting both more efficient and more cost-effective.

Since April 18, 2019, following the implementation of Directive 2014/55/EU, all administrative bodies of EU member states must be able to receive structured e-invoices from their contractors, at least in the case of public contracts.

In some member states, electronic invoice exchange is already mandatory for all transactions with the public sector. For example, the governments of Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands have already decided to introduce corresponding e-invoicing platforms specifically for this purpose.

Inspired by the successes and positive experiences of Latin America, Italy also became the first EU member to introduce mandatory e-invoicing for B2B transactions on January 1, 2019. International companies find themselves in a particularly difficult position, having to comply with the various solutions introduced by individual member states to comply with the e-invoicing directive.

Establishing corresponding efficient business processes requires dynamic adaptation to country-specific requirements and regulations in terms of document formats, digital signatures and the use of specific communication channels for exchange with government platforms.

Adapting their own solutions to local requirements and legislation regarding the issuing and archiving of digital invoices is a challenge. This was the finding of the study "Paperless office and e-invoicing in Germany's top 700 companies: Status quo, pain points and success factors", conducted by Comarch and the Fraunhofer Institute.